And there's one more factor: the production of oil and gas. The industry dredged 10,000 miles of canals and pipelines through marsh, allowing saltwater intrusion and killing plants whose roots held the soil together, causing the land to melt into the ocean. In addition, so much oil, gas, and other materials have been extracted that the land has actually sunk to a point that is sometimes beneath the waves. Multiple scientific studies have concluded these oil and gas activities have caused extensive land loss, and even the industry concedes this point. One U.S. Geological Survey study, which included industry scientists, concluded that 36 percent of statewide land loss is the result of oil and gas production (see Table 3 here). Other studies say the share is higher.

so much oil, gas, and other materials have been extracted that the land has actually sunk to a point that is sometimes beneath the waves.

Sounds like bullshit to me. I would bet the land loss in Louisiana is more a result of effective Mississippi River flood control than anything else. Less sediment is being deposited in the Delta, while coastal erosion continues (and has possibly even worsened due to climate change).

They're just trying to bilk the oil companies for money. I've worked in Louisiana, and I've never seen more corruption, even overseas.

I've never heard these claims that the oil industry is making everyone sink but it sounds logical to me. If we've been pumping on average a billion barrels a day out then eventually there are going to be holes left underground and some of them will be filled with stuff_________________"Sex: breakfast of champions" - James Hunt

I've never heard these claims that the oil industry is making everyone sink but it sounds logical to me. If we've been pumping on average a billion barrels a day out then eventually there are going to be holes left underground and some of them will be filled with stuff

Their local coastal operations are undoubtedly doing environmental damage, including erosion enabled by by dredging, as referenced. However, that's insignificant in comparison to the fact that flood control has essentially shut off the mechanism that has been annually building up the Mississippi River Delta since it came into existence.

The Mississippi drains over 40% of the U.S. and has a peak flow rate of 800,000 cubic feet of water per second. Think about that for a second. It's the fifth biggest river in the world, and it's prone to an annual surge that more than doubles it's volume. The U.S. Government has done some big-league meddling, including a bout a century's worth of levee-building all along the river to prevent the erosion of cropland. Down near the Delta, we have actually diverting most of the flow of the Mississippi from where it was going naturally. These acts will have consequences far, far exceeding the pumping of some oil out of the ground offshore.

The oil industry is not "making everyone sink". The volume of the Earth is approximately 1,083,210,000,000 cubic kilometers. The amount of oil being pumped out of the ground is not even significant in terms of volume (carbon release, yes; volume, no), and it's nothing compared to how much ground water is being pumped. Because ground water is restored only seasonally, the near-depletion of aquifers can indeed cause collapse, ground settling, sinkholes, etc., near cities, particularly in seasonally dry regions (like the American Southwest).

I've never heard these claims that the oil industry is making everyone sink but it sounds logical to me. If we've been pumping on average a billion barrels a day out then eventually there are going to be holes left underground and some of them will be filled with stuff

Their local coastal operations are undoubtedly doing environmental damage, including erosion enabled by by dredging, as referenced. However, that's insignificant in comparison to the fact that flood control has essentially shut off the mechanism that has been annually building up the Mississippi River Delta since it came into existence.

The Mississippi drains over 40% of the U.S. and has a peak flow rate of 800,000 cubic feet of water per second. Think about that for a second. It's the fifth biggest river in the world, and it's prone to an annual surge that more than doubles it's volume. The U.S. Government has done some big-league meddling, including a bout a century's worth of levee-building all along the river to prevent the erosion of cropland. Down near the Delta, we have actually diverting most of the flow of the Mississippi from where it was going naturally. These acts will have consequences far, far exceeding the pumping of some oil out of the ground offshore.

The oil industry is not "making everyone sink". The volume of the Earth is approximately 1,083,210,000,000 cubic kilometers. The amount of oil being pumped out of the ground is not even significant in terms of volume (carbon release, yes; volume, no), and it's nothing compared to how much ground water is being pumped. Because ground water is restored only seasonally, the near-depletion of aquifers can indeed cause collapse, ground settling, sinkholes, etc., near cities, particularly in seasonally dry regions (like the American Southwest).

You guys need to apply a little common sense and perspective.

No, I just had no clue. I don't know if it's the Mississippi but isn't the Hoover dam killing everything downstream and has been doing so for 70 years?_________________"Sex: breakfast of champions" - James Hunt

Why do you put those stinky feet into the Mississippi and then compare them with a metric unit?
Why argue about the Mississippi vs. oild industry, and then compare the oil industry's doing with the volume of the entire earth?

I don't know if it's the Mississippi but isn't the Hoover dam killing everything downstream and has been doing so for 70 years?

Hoover Dam is on the once mighty Colorado River. It is now just a trickle when it empties into the ocean thanks to California's greed. Not content, the fuckheads in Cali are now looking to the Columbia River.

No offense to our Californians, but the sooner that cesspool of a state slides into the Pacific, the better for the rest of us._________________The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
George Orwell

I don't know if it's the Mississippi but isn't the Hoover dam killing everything downstream and has been doing so for 70 years?

Hoover Dam is on the once mighty Colorado River. It is now just a trickle when it empties into the ocean thanks to California's greed. Not content, the fuckheads in Cali are now looking to the Columbia River.

No offense to our Californians, but the sooner that cesspool of a state slides into the Pacific, the better for the rest of us.